The Diary of a West Country Physician, A.D. 1684-1726

Al vi r 22101129818 c Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Wellcome Library https://archive.org/details/b31350914 THE DIARY OF A WEST COUNTRY PHYSICIAN IS A Obi,OJhJf ct; t k 9 5 *fay*/'ckf f?c<uz.s <L<rble> \\M At—r J fF—ojILlIJ- y 't ,-J.M- * - ^jy,-<9. QjlJXy }() * |L Crf fitcJlG-t t $ <z_iedl{£ AU^fytsljc<z.^ act Jfi :tnitutor clout % f §Ve* dtrrt* 7. 5ât~ frt'cUt «k ^—. ^LjHr£hur IW*' ^ (9 % . ' ' ?‘ / ^ f rf i '* '*.<,* £-#**** AT*-/ ^- fr?0- I&Jcsmjl. iLMî M/n. Jstn**tvn- A-f _g, # ««~Hn^ &"<y muy/*£ ^<u j " *-/&**"-*-■ Ucn^f 3:Jl-y fi//.XeKih>■^':^. li M^âtUu jjm.(rmHjf itftLk*P*~$y Vzmltti£‘tortSctcftuuftriftmu ■i M: Oxhr£fr*fro^^^ J^lJt^ veryf^Jif bâhtw-* ft^T #. 5£)- (2) rteui *&• ^ y&klL tn £lzJ£xH*AL% S. HjL <y^tdn %^ cfAiAtL- Xp )L ^ 9 $ <£t**$ufl/ Jcjz^, JVJZuil ftjtij ltf{l~ ft Jk^Hdli^hr^ tfitre , f cc»t<L Cî M hrU at &W*&r* &. ^ H <Wt. % fit) - 0 * Cff. yhf£ fdtr tj jfoinJP&*Ji t/ <S m-£&rA tun 9~& /nsJc &J<ztt r£$tr*kt.bJtVYTU( Hr^JtcAjy£,, $ev£%y£ t£* tnjJuk^ THE DIARY OF A WEST COUNTRY PHYSICIAN A.D. 1684-1726 Edited by EDMUND HOBHOUSE, M.D. ‘Medicines ac Musarum Cultor9 TRADE AGENTS: SIMPKIN MARSHALL, LTD. Stationers’ Hall Court, London, E.C.4 PRINTED BY THE STANHOPE PRESS, ROCHESTER *934 - v- p C f, ,s*j FOREWORD The Manuscripts which furnish the material for these pages consist of four large, vellum-bound volumes of the ledger type, which were found by Mr. Henry Hobhouse among his papers at Hadspen House, Somerset. One volume consists of Diary only. This, with the exception of some periods of illness, gives a complete daily record from June 25th, 1718, to August 12th, 1726, not long before the death of the writer. The other three volumes, dating from 1684 to 1726, contain Accounts, very detailed as regards expenses and receipts and of great interest. We learn what clothes the writer wore, what books he read—or at least bought—what horses and carriages he had, what were his amusements and journeys, and everything to do with his household. In the third volume of Accounts there is a Diary extending from March, 1708/9 to March 1709/10, when it ends abruptly. That the writer kept a Diary later on is certain from the fact that he specifically refers to it in his accounts for 1713, but, unfortunately, this Diary seems to be lost and the extant record does not begin again till 1718. The following chapters 1 to 8 (forming Part I of this Memoir) were left by Dr. Edmund Hobhouse on his death in March, 1933, almost ready for the press. Extracts from the Diary and Accounts are given in Part II together with facsimile leaves of the Manuscript and a few explanatory notes. The interest of these Account Books and Diary lies largely in the fact that they illustrate the ordinary life of a small provincial town in the West of England, which only differed from other small towns of the same population in that it was an episcopal seat and a Parliamentary as well as a Municipal Borough. 7 FOREWORD The writer, Dr. Claver Morris, was a man of very varied interests and accomplishments, a successful physician, a holder of public offices, an enthusiastic musician, well read in the science of the time, especially in chemistry, versed in classics, something of a mathematician with a taste for mechanical contrivances of all sorts, a landowner, and last, but not least, a lover of social gatherings. His Diary, therefore, though for the most part a bald record of events with rare comments, gives a picture of life from the most varied angles. H. H. Note.—A list of Claver Morris’ books, with their cost prices, was published (1932) in pamphlet form entitled “The Library of a Physician,” by the Biographical Society of London. Editor, Dr. Edmund Hobhouse. $ NLB. tVsO U . ft H.okU o / l * . Cu & ,v Ivr- * He* CrstfA ‘1 ■ A A * * > f'., 8 CONTENTS PART I Chap. Page i. BIOGRAPHICAL II ii. DAILY LIFE AT WELLS 18 hi. FOOD AND LIQUOR . 21 IV. DR. MORRIS’ MEDICAL PRACTICE 25 v. SCHOOL LIFE OF HIS CHILDREN 31 VI. FINANCE AND PRICES 35 VII. MUSIC AT WELLS 39 VIII. ENCLOSURE OF COMMONS . 44 APPENDIX A . 46 APPENDIX B 48 PART II FACSIMILES OF DIARY Frontispiece and 50 EXTRACTS FROM DIARY 51 1709-1710 51 1719-1726 63 EXTRACTS FROM ACCOUNTS 137 I RECEPTA (1685-1722) 137 II EXPENSA (1685-1696) 141 GLOSSARY . 151 INDEX 153 9 PART I CHAPTER I BIOGRAPHICAL Claver Morris was bom in 1659 at Caundle Bishop in Dorset¬ shire where his father was rector, just before the proclamation of Charles II, and died at Wells, Somerset, a few weeks before the death of George I, so that his life covered just live reigns. He was born in a Royalist and Tory atmosphere, his father, despite his profession, having served with the Royalist army as a standard-bearer in the Cavalry (vexillifer equestris, later called a cornet). All his life long Morris remained a vehement Tory and High Churchman. Of his life before he came to Wells in 1686 we know only a few facts. He matriculated at New Hall, Oxford, on March 13th, 1675/6, took his B.A. in 1679, M.A. 1682, M.B. 1685 and M.D. 1691. In 1683 he became Extra Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, and from entries in his accounts it is practically certain that he must have practised at Salisbury before coming to Wells. In 1685 he makes the following entry in his accounts: “On October 13 1685 I was married to Miss Grace Green of London by Dr. Littleton at Chelsey Nr. London.” She was the orphan daughter of John Green, member of the Cloth Workers Company, and something of an heiress. She brought him two houses in Crane Court, Fleet Street, afterwards sold for over £1,000, and £400 on deposit in the Chamber of the City of London, i.e., the Treasury of the Corporation, which in this way guarded the interests of the orphan citizens. It may be noted here that in all his three marriages Morris has an eye to the main chance. Like Tennyson’s Northern Farmer, if he did not marry for money, he went where money was. It was no doubt his first wife’s money which enabled him to 11 THE DIARY OF A WEST COUNTRY PHYSICIAN take his M.B. degree and settle down in a style befitting a physician of that time. He leased a house in Wells of some pretensions with a brewhouse attached. From 1685 onwards, almost up to the time of his death in 1726-7, we have his accounts giving not only his personal and estate receipts and expenditure but also the names of every patient he saw and the fees received. He (perhaps prudently) does not give the diagnoses, but in his Diary he occasionally refers to the nature of their illnesses. From the accounts we gather the main facts of his life. He had a daughter, born in April 1688, who died in July of that year, and his wife Grace died in June 1689. He puts in his accounts the sum of £50 “for the interment of one of the best and kindest of wives”. Of this sum no less than £14 ns. was for gloves provided for mourners. He remained a widower till 1696 and pays a widower’s tax of 26s. a year (this entry only occurs twice so presumably he was allowed some years to consider remarriage). We learn from the Diary of Dr. Kidder, Bishop of Bath and Wells1 (1691-1703) that Claver Morris (or as he is called there— Morice) carried on during the years 1693-6 a courtship with the Bishop’s daughter. This lady (according to her father’s account) had at first an inclination towards him, but subsequently changed her mind after a long negotiation of which the Bishop gives a detailed account, not at all creditable to Morris (if true). The engagement, if there was one, was broken off. There is not a word of this business in Morris’ extant writings, so he was probably rather ashamed of the episode. Dr. Kidder and his wife were both killed while in bed by the fall of a chimney in the Palace during the great storm of November 26th, 1703. In 1696 Morris married as his second wife Elizabeth Jeans, a widow, nee Dawe, of Ditcheat, near Castle Cary. Curiously enough, there is only one item in his accounts relating to this marriage, viz., “To Lambert, Collector of taxes, for my marriage 1 Published by the Somerset Record Society, Vol. xxxvn, pp. 134- 144- 12 BIOGRAPHICAL £5.” He does not seem to have even bought a new coat or a pair of gloves for the occasion. This may be due to the fact that his wife was a widow. She brought him a property at West Pennard close to one he already owned at West Bradley. In 1697 his daughter Betty was born, the object of his warmest affection and the sole perpetuator of his family. In 1699 his second wife died, and, in contrast to the entire absence of wedding expenditure, there is a whole page of accounts devoted to her funeral, headed by a coffin at the top, “In com¬ memoration of the dismal solemnity of interring my most ten¬ derly affectionate wife, the daughter of Mr.

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